Uproar in Italy

Left-wing party has itself depicted in chains for EU elections

The well-known left-wing extremist was imprisoned in Budapest.(Bild: APA/AFP/Attila KISBENEDEK)

A photo of left-wing activist Ilaria Salis, who is being held in chains in court in Budapest, can be seen on an election poster of the Italian left-wing party "Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra" (Alliance Greens and Left/AVS) for the EU elections. The 39-year-old primary school teacher, who is on trial in connection with an attack on two neo-Nazis in Budapest last year, is the AVS lead candidate in a northern Italian constituency.

"Is this the Europe we want?" reads the party's election poster. "Ilaria Salis is an Italian citizen who has been locked up in Budapest prison since February 2023 in inhumane conditions that violate the fundamental rights of every human being. We must do our part to free Ilaria from unjust imprisonment and guarantee her a fair trial in order to restore the rule of law throughout the European Union," reads the election poster.

Leftists call on voters to vote
The party called on voters to elect Salis and the AVS in all constituencies in order to change the situation in the EU. A high voter turnout is necessary to get Salis into the EU Parliament, as the four percent threshold must be exceeded.

A trial against the northern Italian began in Budapest in January, during which she was brought into the courtroom in handcuffs and shackles. This caused a stir in Italy. The woman faces up to eleven years in prison. Her father had reported several times about the allegedly inhumane conditions under which his daughter was being held in a prison in Budapest.

Teacher allegedly belongs to "hammer gang"
The Italian teacher describes herself as an anti-fascist. She is accused of violently attacking a group of right-wing extremists in February last year, together with others from the left-wing scene, who wanted to commemorate the Waffen SS and Hungarian soldiers of 1945. According to the authorities, nine people were injured, six of them seriously. The teacher has pleaded not guilty.

Salis and a German couple are said to belong to the "Hammer Gang" group around the German left-wing extremist Lina E., who had attacked and injured suspected neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists in the past. Some of the German activists were convicted for this.

Meloni wants to campaign for repatriation
The Italian government had campaigned in Hungary for Salis to be placed under house arrest. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who maintains good relations with her Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban, emphasized that the Milanese woman's candidacy for the EU elections, which will take place in Italy on 8 and 9 June, does not change the government's efforts to have Salis returned home. "Politicizing the issue does not help," Meloni emphasized. The governing parties criticized Salis' candidacy for the EU Parliament.